But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs, you should format the disk with the exfat file system instead. By default, they format disks with the maconly os x extended file system. The following is based on the latest version of macos. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos. So exfat can be an excellent option to share the external hard drive between macos and windows. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. Can you reformat it without losing all of your data.
With my previous laptops pcs, ive always stored my data on an external hard drive. Is there a more basic way to reformat this particular external drive, to mac os x 10. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. How can i reformat the internal drive and install mountain.
Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk. Macs can only read but not write to a ntfs file system. To format external hard drive on mac, all you have to do is plugin your hard drive and launch disk utility. However, you need to reformat external hard drive or internal ssdhdd if it was partitioned before. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. Dont worry, the top 5 disk formatting tools bellow are 100% safe disk formatting tool for windows or mac os. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. I have just saved necessary files and also the installer for os x 10.
But what happens if that drive becomes corrupted, and you have to reformat it to make it accessible again. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Now your external drive has been formatted to be fully compatible with apple macos, and you can edit, read, and write files to it as you want. By this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. How to format an external hard drive for mac youtube. Are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac. You should then a see it mount on the desktop, and b automatically get a prompt to use the drive for time machine if not, you can go. In this article, i will show easy solutions to format a hard drive or external hard drive for macos 10. Heres how to format an external hard drive if you are planning to format it with. If you have known how to format a hard drive under macos 10. Now, i have a new macbook pro and all my data is still on that external hd. Whether you are trying to backup mac to an external hard drive, wipe out any personal information and sell the computer, or even use a new operating system, you need to format the hard drive on your mac or pc. How to reformat an external drive for mac cyber yard.
On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. They will efficiently format hard drive or external device under windows or mac os. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. I have an external hard drive where i moved all of my mac photos to. Now, how can i reformat and install os x from the installer placed in the external hard drive. Reformatting an external hard drive for use with mac osx is not as difficult as it might seem. No matter what motivation you have, the question, how to reformat a hard drive, is much more important now. So if you want your external hard drive to be backward compatible with both oss then you. How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac os x disk utility duration. Usb drives and external hard drives on macos catalina are used for storing and backing up important data such as photos, videos, audios, images, notes, messages, music files, pdf files, word documents, among other files. Smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer.
Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. However, the mac os does not allow you to write data to the drive. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community.
I purchased an external hard drive a seagate 2 tb expansion desktop drive and was told by the mac rep in the store to perform the following simple task to reformat the disk so i could drag and drop files from my imac and store them on the external hard drive. Any hard drive can be formatted for mac and here is how you do it. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide.
How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. There is only one rule that you need to keep in mind when reformatting a drive. You can use your toshiba canvio drive as a destination for your time machine backups but you can only use drives formatted as mac os extended journaled file system for a. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. You are ready to go in a few quick measures, so you can transfer your backup data to the hard disk, keep your documents safe so give you peace of mind. How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. Once you enter in the command, youll get a list of your connected external hard disks to your mac. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. You may wonder how to reformat an external hard drive on mac. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility.
The command line approach to disk erasure in macos is a bit different and it requires precise syntax to insure that you are erasing the proper disk, making this. This is because the drive has been initialized for windows nt file system, ntfs for short, and ntfs is primarily for pc use. Macos external drive not showing not reformatting fix. It is not as complicated to reformat an external hard drive for use with mac os x as it may look. Three solutions to format a hard drive under macos 10. In such a case, its necessary to reformat wd hard drive to make it compatible with mac operating system. How to use toshiba external hard drive on mac solved.
Which mac file system is best for an external drive. And they will never cause any damage to your hard drive or shorten the service life of the hard drivessdusb flash drive, etc. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Thus, when you are planning to use the same hard drive on any other os, particularly macos, it is always suggested to format your hard drive for mac. How to reformat western digital hard drive for mac. A stepbystep guide on how to format an external drive ntfs for mac compatible file system, mac os extended journaled. This stepbystep guide will show you how to format an external hard drive on a mac, and how to partition a drive on a mac. A hard drive when being used on a particular os contains the drivers and dictionaries of that os, and it also runs the file system best suited for the same os. Follow the tutorial below, youll get everything covered.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Yo just got a new external hard drive and want to use it on your mac. Follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Where and with working to reformat my new hd, i have been directed to base support and then knowledge base answer id 3865. In a few simple steps you are ready to go and can save your backup files to the external drive, keeping your information safe and giving you peace of mind. If you need to erase your disk before installing high sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose mac os extended journaled. If the builtin disk came apfsformatted, dont change it to mac os extended.
If you connect your wd hard drive without reformatting, youll be unable to copy files to the disk as mac read only supports ntfs file system. The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full mac os x compatibility, this uses the. Using your toshiba external hard drive to backup to. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system part 3. As most users have upgraded the operating system, it is quite easy to meet to lowest operating system requirements of exfat. Format external hard drive for mac reformat external.
You cannot reformat a volume when you are currently booted to an operating system on. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external. Whether youre selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a. Disk utility in macos high sierra or later can erase most disks and volumes for mac using either the newer apfs apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive by adriel puentes.
To make it clear, we recommend you stay away from ntfs if youre looking to use your external hard drive on a mac. If you work solely on a mac, but need to send files to someone working on a pc, your external hard drive needs to be set up for both operating systems. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy.
Here are your macos file system options and how to pick the best one for you. Are you about to install macos high sierra or later on the disk. Before you can use it though, you need to properly format or reformat a hard drive so that it will become compatible or readable with the operating system that you are using. If youre erasing an external drive, make sure that its connected directly to your mac.
Thankfully, reformatting an external drive on a mac is a relatively straightforward process apple even ships macs with a builtin utility to do so. You can format an external drive in os x using disk utility and terminal. Some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os, a task which is typically performed through the disk utility application from the gui. What you need to note down is the specific disk identifier for the external disk youll be formatting. Where, i am seeing instruction links, for mac operating system, for as far back as mac os x 10.
I would like to format it to my pc without losing my photos. How hard is it to reformat the hard drive on a mac. The hard drive is recognized in disk management, but does not appear under devices. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. How hard is it to reformat the hard drive on a mac computer. A hard drive or hard disk can be used in any type of computer, whether for pc windows or for mac. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. How to properly formatreformat a hard drive for mac os. Format usb drive, external hard drive on macos catalina. To save important data on the hard drive, please backup disk beforehand.
This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through all connections, be they usb, firewire, or thunderbolt. Its a good idea to backup your data for your mac using time machine. How to format usb driveexternal hard drive on macos catalina. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Read about it and found that id have to reformat it in mac os extended journaled.
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